Yu-Gi-Oh GX Unlocked
by LegacyReturns
Summary: Self-Insert! One-Shot! This is a different kind of crossover in which a boy named Rasa uses a Kingdom Hearts themed deck in his entrance exam for Duel Academy. R&R!
1. Entrance Exam

**Yu-Gi-Oh GX Unlocked**

 **A/N: Hey everyone! So I'm going to start by saying that I'm not planning on making this a full story but I will if a good number of you want me to. This is a Self-Insert One-Shot in which my character, Rasa, will participate in an entrance duel for Duel Academy using an original deck. This original deck is based around the Kingdom Hearts series and I've actually fleshed out a full archetype with many monsters, spells, and trap cards but since this is the entrance duel, I didn't want to go all out with the deck's full power plays. Again, if enough people want to see more of this Kingdom Hearts themed deck piloted by my character, I will at least write out Rasa in a few more major duels.**

 **Now for those of you who are a bit skeptical about this Kingdom Hearts themed deck, let's be honest. Yu-gi-oh GX was basically a fanfic of the original story that made it to manga and TV and if Jaden got to use his favorite thing in a deck, then I'll do the same. Anyways, let's get into it!**

* * *

 **Entrance Exam**

* * *

All over the room there were, beasts releasing primal growls and howls, and blades being crossed. Was anyone in any real danger, though? Not really. All of the battles going on were virtual depictions of fights between two people in a card game. The name of this game…Duel Monsters.

It was the day of the entrance exams for Duel Academy, the most prestigious learning institute that helped students become better duelists in the hopes of entering the professional circuit. The exams were taking place in a dome structure with several designated fields that were separated by walls on each side and surrounded by rows of bleachers.

A boy with raven hair sat in the bleachers, waiting to be called for his exam. Although there were a lot of interesting duels going on, the majority of them were rather simple so the hour that he had to wait for his turn had taken its toll on his patience. He let out a yawn and rubbed the drowsiness out of one of his eyes before leaning back and kicking up his feet on the seat in front of him.

"Drillroid attack his monster!"

A vehicle with large cartoonish eyes above its drill rammed into the opposing monster, destroying it immediately. The exam proctor's life points dropped slightly from the battle but the blue-haired examinee had one more monster to attack with. The boy pushed his circular glasses up his nose and called out his final attack.

"Steamroid, attack him directly!"

Next to Drillroid was a cartoonish train monster that started chugging across the field with steam fuming from its boiler pipe. It rammed into the proctor, reducing his life points to zero and ending the duel.

It isn't often that someone who loses a duel is happy with the other person but this proctor looked genuinely happy for this boy to have won his duel.

"Congratulations, Syrus!" he said. "You've made it into Duel Academy!"

"I-I did?!" the boy asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, you had a rocky start but you did pull through so you did well. Make sure to report to the counter near the entrance to get your blazer and show them this." He scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to Syrus.

Afterwards, the boy ran off to the front counter while the proctor waited for the next student to be called into his field.

Over the intercom, a lazy, dull voice said, "Rasa Shitoku, report to Duel Field One. Rasa Shitoku, report to Duel Field One."

With that, the raven-haired boy went down underneath the duel field like he had been instructed when he arrived to the building and used a raising platform to enter the field.

"Rasa?" the proctor asked.

"Yes sir. That's me."

"My name's Jace Muller, one of the teachers at Duel Academy. I'll be your exam proctor for today." He handed Rasa a practice duel disk and patiently waited for the raven-haired boy to get ready for the duel. Both players shuffled their decks and exchanged them for cutting before placing them in their respective duel disks and taking their places at opposite ends of the field.

 **"Duel!"**

 **Rasa: 4000  
Jace: 4000**

 **-Turn 1-**

Rasa drew five cards and then pulled a sixth card from the top of his deck. "Draw!"

 **Rasa: 6 Cards**

He analyzed his hand, wondering what the best play would be. He had drawn into one of the best spell cards in his deck so he activated it immediately.

"From my hand, I activate the Continuous Spell card, Dive to the Heart!"

The ground in front of Rasa began to peel off into paper-like pieces that fluttered off into the air and a circular glass-stained mosaic was left. Light seemed to illuminated from it as it presented the image of a boy with spiky brown hair and a key-shaped weapon in his hand against a blue background with images of two other people and what seemed to be an anthropomorphic duck and dog.

 **Rasa: 5 Cards**

Next, I summon Key Keeper Sora in attack position–"

 **Rasa 4 Cards**

A rectangular shape flashed in front of Rasa before a form emerged from it. The monster appeared to be a the same young man from the mosaic except with a different set of clothes. Whereas in the mosaic, he wore red shorts, yellow shoes, and a white jacket; he sported in his monster form, a primarily black outfit with countless straps and zippers scattered throughout. He wielded the same club-like weapon that was in the shape of a cartoonish key with a crown mold on as the teeth near the very tip and a yellow rectangular guard around the blue hilt. The boy casually kept the weapon resting on his shoulder.

( **Key Keeper Sora** / Normal Monster / Light / Warrior / Level 3 / **1300** / 1200)

"And in doing so, my spell card activates. When I normal or special summon a Key Keepers monster, I can equip it with a Keyblade Equip Spell card that it can be equipped with directly from my deck so I'll equip Sora with Keyblade – Star Seeker."

The yellow and silver weapon was replaced in a flash of light by another key-shaped weapon, except this one was curved and sported a night sky motif.

"A monster equipped with Star Seeker gains 300 attack points bringing Sora up to 1600. I'll set one card and end my turn."

 **Rasa: 3 Cards**

"Draw!"

 **Jace: 6 Cards**

"I'll activate a spell card called Foolish Burial which lets me send one monster from my deck to the graveyard.

 **Jace: 5 Cards**

"The one I choose is Peten the Dark Clown and when it goes to my Graveyard, I can banish it from the grave to special summon another Peten the Dark Clown from my deck."

A rectangular shaped flashed in front of the exam proctor as well except the position was perpendicular to him and the monster that emerged from the light kneeled with his arms crossed over his chest, indicating that he was in defense position.

( **Peten the Dark Clown** / Effect Monster / Dark / Spellcaster / Level 3 / 500 / **1200** )

"Next, I sacrifice my Peten the Dark Clown to tribute summon Des Volstgalph in attack position!"

 **Jace: 4 Cards**

( **Des Volstgalph** / Effect Monster / Earth / Dragon / Level 6 / **2200** / 1700)

"I declare an attack with Des Volstgalph and when I do, I activate a Quick-Play spell card from my hand, Rush Recklessly, which increases the attack of my monster by 700. On top of that, Des Volstgalph's effect increases its attack by 200 when a Normal or Quick-Play spell card is activated."

 **Jace: 3 Cards**

"3100?!" Rasa kept his left arm before him in a defensive stance though he stood his ground against the large dragon.

"Des Volstgalph, attack his monster!"

The dragon flapped his wings and rose into the air before opening its mouth to unleash a blast of brown and black flames at the brunet warrior. As the stream neared his monster, Rasa activated his face-down, a Quick-Play spell card called Aeroga.

The face-down card behind Sora lifted to reveal a teal green card with the image of a cartoonish cyan-colored tornado.

"With Aeroga, I target one face-up Key Keepers monster that I control and until the end of this turn, it cannot be destroyed."

A spiraling whirlwind kicked up around Sora, keeping him inside its eye.

"Your monster may not be destroyed but you'll still take damage and because you activated a Quick-Play, my monster's attack goes up to 3300."

The flame engulfed Sora and the tornado that surrounded him before the winds dispersed the flames, leaving the warrior unharmed. Rasa on the other hand, took 1700 points of damage.

 **Rasa: 2300  
Jace: 4000**

"I have no more monsters to attack with so I'll end my turn."

 **Rasa: 4 Cards**

"Then it's my turn so I draw!" Rasa looked at the card he drew but dismissed it entirely and picked a different card from his hand to activate. "I activate the spell card, Firaga!"

 **Rasa: 3 Cards**

"While I control a face-up Key Keepers monster, I can target one monster you control and destroy it."

Sora aimed his Star Seeker Keyblade at the dragon and shot a condensed ball of fire from it. Although it did not seem like much, the tiny spark erupted into an explosion of flames when it hit Des Volstgalph's chest, reducing the monster to many virtual light particles.

 **Rasa: 2300  
Jace: 1600**

Rasa continued speaking, "When I destroy your monster with Firaga's effect, I inflict damage to your life points equal to your monsters and since I activated a spell card, your monster's attack increased to 2400 just before it was destroyed. Now that you're defenseless, I'll attack you directly with my monster. Sora, finish this duel with Starlight Slash!"

Parting his legs into a crouching stance with his weapon held low and pointed away from his opponent, Sora pushed off and charged Jace. As he swung his sword through the exam proctor, an arc of light trailed behind it, and the man's life points dropped to zero.

 **Rasa: 2300  
Jace: 0**

 **DUEL ENDS**

* * *

As Jace recovered from the shock of having a sword swung through him, (no matter how many times an attack came at him, he never got used to it) he walked towards Rasa with a wide grin.

"I'm impressed. Honestly, I am. You managed to beat me in only three turns. That's actually the record today for students going first in the duel."

With a quirked eyebrow, Rasa asked, "Someone's beaten you in less?"

"Yeah, there was this one student who managed to beat me in one and he was going first."

The look on Rasa's face told him all he needed to know. Jace wrote on a piece of paper and handed it to Rasa before sending him on his way to receive his jacket.

 **A/N: Anyways, that's it! I hope you enjoyed and I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review to let me know what you think about the way I write out a duel. Thanks for reading!**


	2. School Duel Representative

**A/N: Hello again! Like I said last time, I was thinking of writing out duels with Rasa and his Key Keeper deck anyways so even though I didn't get as much feedback as I would have liked on the entrance exam duel, I went ahead and wrote this anyway. I really appreciate those of you who did take the time to leave a review and expressed that you wanted to see more of this as a treat to you guys, here's a 9000 word chapter. Yeesh, right? Well this chapter is based on the two episodes that covered Jaden and Bastion's duel to determine who would represent their school against North Academy except I had to throw Rasa into the mix too so I hope you guys enjoy what I came up with. Since there's a big leap between the entrance exams and this point in the story, I've provided a small summary at the beginning so those readers who don't remember a lot about the story can know what's going on. The summary isn't super detailed but it provides enough for you guys to follow along. It'll be like this for future chapters as well as I plan on getting through at least the first 3 seasons of Yu-gi-oh GX since the 4** **th** **is really hazy in my memory. Anyways, let's get into it!**

* * *

 _After his entrance exam, Rasa picked up his Ra Yellow jacket and at the start of the new academic year, he set off for Duel Academy. While there, he became acquainted with several of the other students including his fellow Ra Yellow student, Bastion, and even students from the other dorms like Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Alexis. Rasa's main focus was in his school work to earn a promotion to Obelisk Blue though Bastion was the one presented with that opportunity when Crowler set up a duel between him and Chazz after the Obelisk Blue student failed to defeat Jaden. After losing the duel, Chazz was forced to leave Duel Academy as per his agreement with Bastion._

 _As the year progressed, Rasa had heard of and even experienced some of the adventures that Jaden went on like the dueling monkey, the copycat duelist, and the little girl who snuck her way into the school. The next experience would come with the approaching school duel between Duel Academy and North Academy. To decide who would participate in this duel, Chancellor Shepherd convened with the teaching faculty and invited Syrus' older brother, Zane, to the meeting._

* * *

 **School Duel Representative**

The seven faculty members, among which were the four dorm heads, sat around the large wooden desk inside the Chancellor's office with Crowler at one end and an open seat left for the Chancellor himself. The Obelisk Blue dorm head sat cross-legged and cross-armed with his eyes closed, unwilling to make conversation with the rest of the faculty members. It was already bad enough that his superior was late for the meeting. He had much better things to do than to sit in a room with his tasteless colleagues.

Professor Banner, the Slifer Red form head sat with a relaxed smile as he gently pet his cat, Pharaoh's, head. The large brown feline simply purred in satisfaction while he lay snuggly on his owner's lap, not minding the situation.

Chancellor Shepherd arrived shortly and as he entered the room, a blue-haired student appeared behind him and stood next to the bald man's seat. Crowler opened his eyes and was slightly annoyed by the fact that the Chancellor had brought the student that was famous throughout the school as Kaiser, Zane Truesdale, seeing as how the meeting was about the school duel that he was the obvious pick for.

As the Chancellor took his seat, he said, "Thank you for coming to meet with me on such short notice. Now this meeting shouldn't take long but it is important that we have it. I wanted to go over some details for the friendship duel against North Academy starting with who will represent our school."

Crowler quirked an eyebrow and responded, "Chancellor, are you to say that Zane will not be representing us?"

"That's right, Crowler. Sharp as ever, I see." Chancellor Shepherd seemed oblivious to Crowler's displeasure as he just smiled on.

Crowler shot up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table.

"But why?! For the friendship duel with North Academy, the representative, as before, must be young Zane!" The blonde man pointed to the student exaggeratingly as if the others needed help seeing where he was.

Shepherd remained unphased as he responded, "Apparently, their representative is a first-year student…"

Crowler repeated, "A first-year student?!"

"That being the case," he continued, "I felt it would be good for our representative to be a first-year, too." He turned his head to Zane and said, "This is the first you hear of this as well. What do you think?"

"I don't mind."

The Chancellor nodded.

"Now the question is who do we choose for our new representative?"

The taciturn student closed his eyes and stated, "Jaden Yuki."

This took most of the instructors by surprise – Crowler showed the most shock as he stared at Zane wide-eyed.

Professor Banner looked down and casually said, "This looks like it could get ugly, eh, Pharaoh?"

His cat let out a simple yawn and the room went into silence until the Ra Yellow dorm head, Professor Satyr interjected, "Why Jaden specifically?"

"I believe he would give us an entertaining duel."

Shepherd nodded, "And in terms of skill, he leaves no room for complaint."

Jace remained quiet through the conversation but could not help to notice that Crowler did not seem to look too satisfied with Jaden being Zane's pick. Suddenly, the blonde man's expression changed as he announced, "Then I endorse Bastion Misawa!"

Shepherd looked slightly surprised as he asked, "From Ra Yellow?"

The Ra Yellow dorm head, Professor Satyr nodded in agreement, "Bastion would also be a very good choice. The boy has talent, skill, and intelligence. He's definitely separated himself from the rest of the student body in terms of his academic success and dueling abilities. But now I'd like to add a candidate of my own. Rasa Shitoku. Although not as textbook smart as Bastion or energetic as Jaden, Rasa undoubtedly has skill and his deck is rather versatile."

"Another student from Ra Yellow…" The Chancellor said. He contemplated the options presented to him for a few moments, leaving everyone else in the room in suspense.

Jace cut through the silence by saying, "I agree that Rasa is also a strong candidate and I can speak from experience of his abilities but there's one thing I'd like to add. This might not be helping us in narrowing down the choices but I recommend Kuro Majonawa of Obelisk Blue. Honestly, he's the only other student whose name I remember just from the entrance exams. He easily outperformed all other applicants that I dueled."

The Chancellor nodded again and remained quiet for several more seconds, which would have lasted longer if not for Crowler. The Obelisk Blue professor climbed atop the table and began to crawl his way over to his superior while attempting to reason with him.

"Why do we not have them all fight…" He stopped at the very edge of the desk, right in front of the Chancellor, who was forced to lean back in his chair. "-and he who wins will be the representative?"

Shepherd turned to Zane and asked, "What do you think?"

"I would like to Jaden participate in the duel against North Academy but I can see the arguments for the other candidates." He turned to Jace. "I saw both Rasa and Kuro's duels with you and just like you said, they both performed great. He then turned to Crowler and said, "And Bastion is also very skilled so perhaps a small tournament between the four can be held."

"Better yet..."

All eyes went to the Chancellor.

"Why not a duel between them all at the same time?"

"A free-for-all?" asked Ms. Fontaine.

Shepherd rose from his seat, causing Crowler to reel back this time.

"Exactly! That'll really spice things up."

With Professor Banner's class being the first of the day, Chancellor Shepherd assigned him with the role of announcing the free-for-all duel. As soon as the long hand struck twelve, he quieted the class and gathered everyone's attention to the front.

"Good morning students!"

"Good morning Professor Banner."

Not everyone responded and the majority of those who did, did so out of necessity so the greeting came out very forced and the exhaustion in their voices was apparent.

"I have an announcement to make. Now I wanted you all to know that the school's faculty have met together to decide who will represent us in the duel against North Academy. Normally, it would be our top student, Zane Truesdale, however it seems that North Academy has chosen a first-year student as their duelist so we have narrowed our selection down to four possible students from the first-year class."

Jaden sprang up from his seat with his fists balled up and his signature energetic smile gleaming as he asked, "I'm on that list right, Professor Banner?"

"Settle down, Jaden. I'll announce the students one-by-one."

"Yeah Jaden, relax," Syrus said.

With his cheek resting against his fist, Rasa responded lazily, "Forget it, Syrus. He probably is on that list."

"Bastion Misawa."

The Ra Yellow student stood from his seat behind Jaden and the others.

"Naturally," he remarked.

"Jaden Yuki."

"Alright!"

Rasa shot a knowing look at Syrus.

"See?"

"Rasa Shitoku."

The raven-haired boy snapped his head towards Banner and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, what?"

"Stand up, Rasa," the Professor repeated.

Rasa did as he was told and stood on Syrus' other side. He took a moment to look around the room, noticing that the candidates were all condensed in their little section of the classroom near the front. Was the fourth going to by Syrus? That would complete the group, after all.

"And lastly, Kuro Majonawa."

Confusion spread across the classroom as students pondered who this student was until a tall boy with slicked back silver hair stood from his seat. His eyes were a burning orange and he wore a confident smirk as he looked forward. From the color of his uniform, he had good reason to be confident.

"Have you guys ever seen him before?" Jaden asked.

The others all shook their heads.

Rasa simply shrugged it off and said, "It's a big class. We're bound to miss some students."

"So who will our opponents be?" Bastion asked the Professor.

"You will all face off in a free-for-all."

"What?!" The classroom erupted into conversation again as they all discussed the duel's format. It was uncommon – no, _rare_ for there to be a free-for-all. It was rare just for there to be a duel to decide who would represent the school against the rival, let alone a free-for-all.

"Settle down," Banner said. "We need to get started with the lecture."

As the class quieted down and Rasa took his seat, he could not help but take a look over at Kuro. The silver-haired boy turned his head to him with the same expression he'd been wearing. Slowly, Kuro's confident smirk transformed into a smug, toothy grin and it further warped into a wide smile with bared canines and wild eyes.

Rasa's cocked his head back from surprise and quickly turned his head back to the front, not wanting to look at that creepy face anymore. For whatever reason he had not met Kuro yet, he was now wishing that he could have kept it that way.

In the days leading up to the free-for-all duel, Rasa had tinkered with his deck in an attempt to fix it up _just right_. After all, he would have three opponents to face rather than just the one. He knew that Bastion would be cooking something up as well but he was not sure about what Jaden was doing to prepare for the duel. He had never seen Kuro duel so as far as he was concerned, the silver-haired boy was the biggest threat on the field.

As all four boys stood in a circle on the dueling field with Professor Crowler in the center and the rest of their classmates in the bleachers, they waited for the opening remarks to finish for their duel to begin.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We shall now begin the duel to determine the school representative! From Obelisk Blue, Kuro Majonawa!" There was a fair amount of cheers, mostly from Obelisk Blue students who, regardless of whether they knew of this student or not, were rooting for their fellow dorm resident.

"From Ra Yellow, we have two students. First, Bastion Misawa! And next, Rasa Shitoku!"

The Professor's voice lost energy and interest as he announced, "And from Slifer Red, Jaden Yuki…" He earned, understandably, the least amount of cheers.

"You look confident!" Jaden called out to Bastion. "By the look of your expression it looks like it's finished."

As Bastion held up his duel disk, he said, "Yes, my seventh deck is complete. I originally intended it to be made specifically for your deck, Jaden. But things don't always go as we plan." He locked eyes with Rasa and then looked at Kuro who seemed to be rather nonchalant. "I've made preparations for all of you, though!"

"Do your best, Jay!" Syrus called form the stands.

With his hands raised, Crowler announced, "Now let's begin!"

 **"** **Duel!"**

 **Rasa: 4000  
Jaden: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Kuro: 4000**

Crowler was quick to jump down from the platform and Bastion was quick to start his turn.

 **-Turn 1-**

"My turn. Draw!"

 **Bastion: 6 Cards**

"I summon Carboneddon in Defense Position."

 **Bastion: 5 Cards**

A card appeared in front of Bastion with a metallic dark gray dinosaur kneeling on top of it.

( **Carboneddon** / Effect Monster / Earth / Dinosaur / Level 3 / 800 / **600** )

"I'll set one card and I end my turn."

 **Bastion: 4 Cards**

Syrus commented, "600 defense points? That's not much to protect himself with."

 **-Turn 2-**

Going in clockwise motion, Rasa was next to take his turn. "Draw!"

 **Rasa: 6 Cards**

"I'll start things off by summoning Key Keeper Sora in Attack Position."

 **Rasa: 5 Cards**

( **Key Keeper Sora** / Normal Monster / Light / Warrior / Level 3 / **1300** / 1200)

"I'll equip him with Keyblade – Starseeker which will increase his attack by 300."

 **Rasa: 4 Cards**

"I've expected this so I'll activate my Trap Card, Unarmed!"

"Unarmed?! What does that do?!" Jaden seemed more worried about the card's effect than Rasa did but the raven-haired boy still showed concern on his face.

"Just as you would think, when a monster is equipped with a card, I can activate Unarmed to destroy both the monster and the card that it is equipped with."

"I'll activate the Quick-Play Spell Card from my hand, Aeroga, to protect Sora from destruction."

 **Rasa: 3 Cards**

A tornado appeared around Key Keeper Sora, warding off any harm from him.

"His weapon will not be protected, though," Bastion responded.

Just as he said, Starseeker burst into light, and Sora's Kingdom Key returned to his hand.

"That's fine because when Keyblade – Star Seeker is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard while equipped to a monster, I can draw one card.

 **Rasa: 4 Cards**

"I'll equip Sora with a different Keyblade. I activate Keyblade – Spellbinder."

 **Rasa: 3 Cards**

Another blue Keyblade appeared but this one had a straight and split blade and a green book keychain.

"I'll set one card…

 **Rasa: 2 Cards**

"And end my turn but during the End Phase, since I activated a spell card this turn, Spellbinder lets me add 1 –ga spell card from my deck to my hand so I choose Thundaga."

 **Rasa: 3 Cards**

 **-Turn 3-**

"Then I'll go. I draw!"

 **Jaden: 6 Cards**

"I summon Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in attack position!"

 **Jaden: 5 Cards**

A pale woman wearing a skin-tight red suit that left nothing to the imagination appeared in front of Jaden. Her two-toned gray hair was topped off by a dull gold-colored headpiece with an aquamarine gem in the center.

( **Elemental HERO Burstinatrix** / Normal Monster / Fire / Warrior/ Level 3 / **1200** / 800)

"I can't attack this turn so I'll set one card and end my turn."

 **Jaden: 4 Cards**

 **-Turn 4-**

All eyes turned to the fourth duelist, the only one who could attack on his first turn, in anticipation of what he would do against the three monsters currently on the field. Who would he choose to attack? How would he handle the set cards that Rasa and Jaden had on their sides of the field?

Kuro seemed almost unphased by the current state of the field and the slight disadvantage he was at with going last. Instead, he placed two fingers on the top card of his deck and eyed each of his opponents. Whether he did so as an intimidation tactic or not, he definitely unnerved them all as well as most of the spectators.

"Draw!" His shrill, borderline manic voice pierced through everyone's ears as he added the card to his hand.

 **(Play: Night of Fate)**

 **Kuro: 6 Cards**

"I'll start by summoning my Shadow Heartless in defense position."

 **Kuro: 5 Cards**

A small shadow appeared on the ground before rising up as a tiny insect-like creature with a rounded head and torso, twig-like arms and legs, and a pair of antennae. Its body was pitch black but its eyes were small yellow circles that glowed in stark contrast to its skin. The monster seemed lost and confused as it twitched its head from side to side.

( **Shadow Heartless** / Effect Monster/ Dark / Fiend / Level 1 / 500 / **100** )

"That's even weaker than Bastion's Carboneddon" commented Alexis.

"This duelist…"

She turned her head in wonder to look at Zane who had just appeared beside her. Ignoring the fact that she did not even notice him until then, she asked, "You know of him?"

"You hadn't gotten there yet on the day of the entrance exams but this kid is the real deal."

"Is he really that good?"

"Just watch. I think he might eliminate a duelist this turn."

That caught Alexis completely off guard and left her speechless. It also caused her to worry about Jaden but all she could do was watch and see the upcoming events unfold.

Kuro announced, "I activate my monster's effect. When it is normal _or_ special summoned, I can add one Level 4 or lower Heartless monster from my deck to my hand but if I do, I will take 1000 damage during the End Phase."

He removed his deck from the duel disk and spread the cards with one hand to search for the card he wanted.

"I'll add this card: Darkball Heartless."

 **Kuro: 6 Cards**

After placing his deck back into its slot, he picked up another card from his hand and slipped it into one of the Spell/Trap Card Zones.

"Now I activate Teeming Darkness."

 **Kuro: 5 Cards**

"I can target one Heartless monster that I control with 500 attack points or less and then I special summon two more monsters from my deck with the same name so I'll bring out two more Shadows in defense position."

Rasa spoke aloud to himself, "That means he'll be taking 3000 points of damage during the End Phase. That's awfully risky."

Kuro chuckled in response.

"That's only _if_ I activate their effects so I choose not to and when I forgo searching for a monster using Shadow Heartless, it inflicts 1000 damage to one of my opponents during the End Phase."

"I've chosen to summon all of my monsters in defense position so I will not declare an attack this turn but I will set one card."

 **Kuro: 4 Cards**

"Now I will distribute damage according to my monsters' effects. My first Shadow will inflict 1000 damage to me."

The tiny insectoid turned around to face its owner and leapt at him.

"However…" he began to chuckle to himself as the tiny monster approached him. "I activate the effect of my Darkball Heartless in my hand! When I would take effect damage, I can special summon this monster to my side of the field and negate the damage. Then, I can inflict double the damage that I would have taken to my opponent."

 **Kuro: 3 Cards**

( **Darkball Heartless** / Effect Monster / Dark / Fiend / Level 3 / **1200** / 1000)

A floating black sphere with three horn-like protrusions coming out in different directions appeared in front of Kuro to block the Shadow's attack.

Rasa and the others all looked at the silver-haired boy in shock. He planned on completely wiping one of them out in one fell swoop by combining Darkball's effect with the other two Shadow's effects. Kuro scanned the field to determine who would be most threatening to his victory. Seeing as how Jaden was just a Slifer Red, he narrowed his choice between Rasa and Bastion. He looked them both over before settling on Bastion.

"My _sincerest_ apologies, Misawa, but you have to go. Darkball Heartless, inflict 2000 points of damage to Bastion!"

The floating, horned sphere set its sights on the aforementioned boy and flew towards him with its mouth agape.

"I activate my Quick-Play Spell Card, Reflega!"

Bastion turned to Rasa who had flipped one of his set cards, a spell card with the image of a clear sphere with a hexagonal structure. Next, Key Keeper Sora aimed his sword at Bastion and shot a ball of light that expanded into a crystal dome just like on the card's artwork. The Darkball Heartless slammed into the barrier and was knocked back.

"Once per turn, while I control a face-up Key Keeper monster, I can reduce effect damage to zero."

Having had his strategy foiled, Kuro was understandably upset. He turned his gaze to Rasa and glared at the boy, causing him to flinch a little.

"You dare make a fool out of me?! If you're feeling like such a hero, then you will take the remaining 2000!"

At his command, both remaining Shadow Heartless lunged at Rasa and scratched away at his life points.

"Ah!"

Rasa covered his face with both arms as the tiny monsters shaved away at him. Even after they returned to Kuro's side, Rasa stayed in a defensive stance for a few moments before realizing that something was wrong. The monsters were only holograms but he swore that he felt tiny claws dig into his arms. He looked himself over for any marks but found there to be nothing so he looked back at Kuro only to find him with his usual smirk.

"That officially ends my turn."

 **(End: Night of Fate)**

 **Rasa: 2000  
Jaden : 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Kuro: 4000**

 **-Turn 5-**

Before drawing, Bastion turned to Rasa and asked, "Why did you protect me last turn? You would have had one less opponent to deal with. I know I would not have done the same for you. If you did so to gain an ally, your attempt was futile."

Rasa shook his head.

"It had nothing to do with that." He looked over at Kuro before returning to Bastion. "I've got a weird feeling about this guy and if he can take out all of someone's life points just like that, then Jaden and I would have been easy pickings for him once you were out of the duel."

"I see. In that case, I won't take advantage of the vulnerable state you've left yourself in…for now."

"Draw!"

 **Bastion: 5 Cards**

"I summon my Oxygeddon in attack position."

 **Bastion: 4 Cards**

A tornado of green wind picked up beside Carboneddon, revealing a pterodactyl composed entirely of spiraling green gas. It let out an ear-shattered roar as it emerged from the tornado before it began flapping its wings to stay airborne.

( **Oxygeddon** / Effect Monster / Wind / Dinosaur / Level 4 / **1800** / 800)

"Next, I switch my Carboneddon to attack position and declare an attack on one Shadow Heartless."

The metallic reptile ran across the field and bit down on the Heartless monster, making it evaporate into a black mist.

"My Oxygeddon attacks Jaden's Burstinatrix."

The second dinosaur opened its mouth to release a whirling blast of wind but Jaden activated his trap card, Hero Barrier.

"As long as I control a face-up Elemental HERO monster, I can negate one attack. You won't be able to beat my HEROs so easily."

A pulsating blue shield formed in front of Burstinatrix, cancelling out Oxygeddon's attack.

"That's true. That's what makes you Number 1 at this school. I set one card and end my turn."

 **Bastion: 3 Cards**

 **-Turn 6-**

Rasa looked down at his deck, beginning to feel as though he made the wrong choice by letting Bastion stay in the duel. After all, what his opponent said was true. He would have one less obstacle in his way and he would still have all of his life points. The boy's dark eyes rose to meet with Kuro's across the field. No. There was something strange about this boy. Something that could not go unchecked.

"Draw!"

 **Rasa: 4 Cards**

"First, I activate the Field Spell Card, Traverse Town"

 **Rasa: 3 Cards**

A compartment on Rasa's duel disk slid open for his Field Spell. When he activated it, the arena changed scenery from platform and bleachers to a small town with many shops bathed in the golden orange light of the street lamps.

"Next, I summon Ninja Girl Yuffie in face-up attack position."

 **Rasa: 2 Cards**

A petite girl with short black hair and a tight outfit consisting of a lace strapped shirt and small shorts appeared from smoke with a large shuriken spinning around one finger. The headband's tails flowed in the wind as she stood tall and with unmatched confidence.

( **Ninja Girl Yuffie** / Effect Monster / Dark / Warrior / Level 3 / **1000** / 500)

"When Yuffie is summoned two effects activate: hers and Traverse Towns. First, I'll use Yuffie's. When she's summoned, I can target one set card on the field and as long as she's face up, it can't be activated so I target Kuro's face-down."

Yuffie chucked her large weapon at the set card, pinning it down to the ground.

"It also can't be activated in response to her effect."

Kuro did not seem bothered in the slightest by Yuffie's effect. He simply watched on, unimpressed by Rasa's dueling.

"Next, is my field spell's effect. When a monster is summoned, I can add an Equip Spell Card from my deck to my hand and the one I choose is Keyblade – Fenrir."

 **Rasa: 3 Cards**

"I'll equip Sora with Fenrir…"

 **Rasa: 2 Cards**

"Increasing his attack by 400."

A second Keyblade appeared in Sora's left hand which looked like the key to a motorcycle with a trapezoid-shaped guard. It was wrapped in torn bandages near the hilt and its keychain was a circle with a wolf head emblem.

"Next, I'll activate Thundaga which allows me to destroy cards on the field equal to the number of monsters I control so long as one of those monsters is a face-up Key Keeper monster. I think I'll destroy Burstinatrix and one Shadow Heartless."

 **Rasa: 1 Card**

Both Sora and Yuffie cast a lighting spell by causing bolts to crash down on the targeted monsters.

"Let's battle. Sora, destroy Darkball Heartless."

The young man ran towards the darkness concentrate and slashed right through him.

 **Rasa: 2000  
Jaden: 4000  
Bastion: 4000  
Kuro: 3500**

Kuro simply chuckled, "Is 500 the best you can do to me? If you're so scared of me, why not just focus all of your efforts on me?"

"Because it's a free-for-all. Everyone here is just as useful to each other as they are harmful. But if you want more of my attention, you've got it. When Fenrir's wielder destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can send it to the graveyard to re-equip Sora with a Keyblade Equip Spell card in my graveyard so I choose Star Seeker."

Sora's attack returned from 1700 to 1300 and immediately after jumped up to 1600 because of Star Seeker's effect.

"And my monster can make a second attack this Battle Phase so destroy his last monster."

"Now Yuffie, destroy Carboneddon."

Her shuriken flew across the field and somehow tore through the metallic dinosaur.

 **Rasa: 2000  
Jaden: 4000  
Bastion: 3800  
Kuro: 3500**

"During my End Phase, Spellbinder will add Curaga from my deck to my hand."

 **Rasa: 2 Cards**

"I end my turn."

 **-Turn 7-**

"It's my turn again so I'll draw!"

 **Jaden: 5 Cards**

"I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman…"

 **Jaden: 4 Cards**

( **Elemental HERO Sparkman** / Normal Monster / Light / Warrior / Level 4 / **1600** / 1400)

He then turned to Rasa and said, "And if you don't mind, I'll be using your Field Spell to add Spark Blaster to my hand.

 **Jaden: 5 Cards**

"I'll use Spark Blaster and with it, I can target one of your monsters and switch its battle position so I choose Bastion's Oxygeddon.

 **Jaden: 4 Cards**

"Now let's battle! Sparkman, attack Oxygeddon."

Sparkman held out a hand forward and shot a blast of electricity at Oxygeddon. The lightning surged inside its tornado-like body, causing it to explode from the inside. The winds expanded outward, blowing against the duelists before dying down completely.

"That's it for now. Your move, Kuro!"

 **-Turn 8-**

Without announcing it, Kuro drew a card.

 **Kuro: 4 Cards**

"I summon Surveillance Robot Heartless from my hand."

 **Kuro: 3 Cards**

( **Surveillance Robot Heartless** / Effect Monster / Dark / Fiend / Level 3 / **1400** / 700)

"I'll activate two effects as well! The first is my monster's which allows me to special summon a level 4 or lower Heartless monster from my graveyard so I'll bring back a Shadow Heartless and use its effect to add another Darkball Heartless."

 **Kuro: 4 Cards**

"My Surveillance Robot inflicts 1000 damage to me but my Darkball will negate the damage and inflict it on…"

 **Kuro: 3 Cards**

Kuro's amber eyes moved from opponent to opponent until they settled on Rasa.

"I don't want you being a nuisance anymore so I'll use it to end you! Darkball, finish him off!"

"I activate the effect of my Moogle from my hand! By discarding it, I can send the top card of my deck to the graveyard and if it's spell card, I can negate the damage."

 **Rasa: 1 Card**

Jaden and Bastion both watched Rasa with intense looks on their faces. Bastion half-hoped that Rasa would be out of the duel though he was only in this position because of him to begin with so part of him felt guilty. This situation only proved that Kuro truly was the biggest threat among them due to his ability to eliminate any one of them with ease. Jaden on the other hand was completely on Rasa's side. He's definitely made the duel interesting with his ability to counter Kuro's strategies. Hopefully he could get the card he needed.

Rasa pulled the top card of his deck and looked at it. A smile spread across his lips as he confidently revealed it to Kuro. "I pulled the spell card, Dive to the Heart, so I'm safe."

A small beige creature with a round body and round head appeared in front of Rasa to repel the Darkball's assault. Its eyes were squinted and it had a round red nose as well as a round red ball attached to his head on a thin black cord.

"Kupo!" it cheered before disappearing.

Rasa stared back at Kuro, having gained the confidence to stand up to him head on with his head high and his shoulders back. The initial nerves that he got from this boy were beginning to fade because he had proven to himself that he could match him move for move.

Kuro was not upset by this. Instead, he seemed rather excited by Rasa's show of skill and luck and deemed him a worthy opponent. Things had become interesting for him.

"You may have dodged the damage but now I have three monsters on my field and I can add an Equip Spell card from my deck to my hand using your Field Spell. The one I choose is Power of Darkness."

 **Kuro: 4 Cards**

Kuro revealed a spell card with a strange heart-shaped symbol in the center. The heart was black with a layer of red trim as well as two spikes near the bottom.

"Next I'll activate Power of Darkness and equip it to your Key Keeper Sora."

The card emerged as a hologram on the field and shot out dark tendrils that wrapped themselves around Sora. The warrior tried to cut away at them with his weapons but was ultimately ensnared and dragged across the field to Kuro's side where he was completely covered in darkness. The tendrils faded but Sora's skin and his clothes became pitch black, leaving only his eyes with a golden glow.

"A monster equipped with this card comes to my side of the field and is treated as a Heartless monster."

Next, I tribute my Anti-Sora, Shadow, and Darkball to special summon from my hand, my Darkside Heartless!"

 **(Play: Destiny's Force)**

 **Kuro: 3 Cards**

All three monsters fell into a pool of darkness before a colossal black monster emerged from it. It had a muscular body with large a heart-shaped whole in its chest. Its head was surrounded by tendrils, almost like a scarf and it had a pair of small oddly-shaped wings on its back. The titanic Heartless stared Rasa down, peering deep into his soul with its gleaming golden eyes. The raven-haired boy took a couple steps back away from the monster only to almost fall off of the stage.

( **Darkside Heartless** / Effect Monster / Dark / Fiend / Level 8 / **2800** / 2100)

"Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Shadow Heartless from my hand, deck, or graveyard and I choose to summon one from my graveyard."

The Darkside kneeled down and drove its fist into the ground, opening a swirling dark portal from which the Shadow could emerge from in attack position.

"I have enough cards in my hand so I won't use its effect to search. Instead, I'll move onto the Battle Phase. With only your measly monster left, this duel is over for you, Key Keeper. Darkside, destroy his little ninja."

Yuffie could only raise her hands as the Heartless approached her slowly, casting a long shadow over her. It raised its fist and crushed her underneath it.

 **Rasa: 200  
Jaden: 4000  
Bastion: 3800  
Kuro: 3500**

"Finish him, my Shadow Heartless!"

With no set cards and no monsters left, Rasa was wide open for an attack from the Shadow. Again, he could feel tiny claws dig into his skin but there did not seem to be any real damage. Rasa fell to his knees as his Field Spell vanished. His hands held him up but his head hung low from being the first one eliminated.

 **Rasa: 0  
Jaden: 4000  
Bastion: 3800  
Kuro: 3500**

Crowler spoke loud for the audience, "Rasa has been eliminated! Three duelists remain!" As he took his seat again, he berated himself for not recommending Kuro to duel Jaden over Bastion. The Slifer Slacker would have easily been crushed.

Hearing it said out loud, Rasa could only gather what bits of his pride remained and go sit down in the bleachers. He placed the cards he had used in the duel back into his deck and walked off of the stage without a word.

Jaden called out to him, "Hey, Rasa!"

The boy stopped and turned around to face Jaden.

"Don't worry, you did great! I don't think Bastion or I could've kept up with him by ourselves. We definitely owe you for going head to head with the guy."

Rasa simply nodded at Jaden's words, not really feeling better about the ordeal, and went to have a seat. Jace watched from the bleachers as he walked out of the arena. He felt a little bad about Rasa's loss but was more impressed by his quick thinking. Although he had to commend Rasa for his altruism, Jace felt that he should have looked after himself more.

Kuro continued on with his Battle Phase.

"Surveillance Robot, attack Bastion directly!"

The brown Heartless hovered over to Bastion and shot him with a beam of light. The black-haired boy clutched his chest, almost as if he had actually been hit. Did he? He must have been imagining the pain.

 **Jaden: 4000  
Bastion: 2400  
Kuro: 3500**

"I'm done with my turn so during my End Phase, I have to tribute one monster to prevent Darkside from inflicting 1000 points of damage to me so I'll tribute my Shadow Heartless. Unfortunately for you, Jaden, the Shadow's effect occurs whether it's on the field or not so you'll be losing 1000 life points.

The Heartless leapt out of Kuro's graveyard slot and scratched Jaden before crawling back into its hole. Just like Rasa and Bastion, he too could feel something when the tiny monster attacked him. Was Rasa right to be so wary of Kuro?

 **Jaden: 3000  
Bastion: 2500  
Kuro: 3500**

"I end my turn!" the silver-haired boy announced.

 **(End: Destiny's Force)**

 **-Turn 9-**

"Draw!"

 **Bastion: 4 Cards**

"I'll summon my Hydrogeddon in attack position!"

 **Bastion: 3 Cards**

A surging geyser of dirty water erupted from the ground and took the form of a quadrupedal prehistoric beast.

( **Hydrogeddon** / Effect Monster / Water / Dinosaur / Level 4 / **1600** / 1000)

"Hydrogeddon attack Surveillance Robot!"

The dinosaur released a stream of brown liquid that crushed the hovering machine with its high pressure.

 **Jaden: 3000  
Bastion: 2400  
Kuro: 3300**

"Hydrogeddon's effect lets me summon another copy from my deck when it destroys a monster by battle."

Another one emerged right beside the first.

"Since Jaden has no monsters, I will attack him directly!"

 **Jaden: 1400  
Bastion: 2400  
Kuro: 3300**

"I end my Battle Phase but during my second Main Phase, I activate the Equip Spell Card, Living Fossil."

 **Bastion: 2 Cards**

"With it, I bring back my Oxygeddon though it loses 1000 attack and its effect is negated. The reason for its return is not for its power nor for its abilities but for its hidden potential for you see, I can use the spell card H2O Bonding to tribute my two Hydrogeddon and my one Oxygeddon to special summon my Water Dragon from my deck!"

 **Bastion: 1 Card**

The elements that each of the three monsters consisted of melded together in whirling vortex that eventually turned into a long serpent made entirely of water.

( **Water Dragon** / Effect Monster / Water / Sea Serpent / Level 8 / **2800** / 2600)

"I see you're going all out," Jaden commented.

"Indeed. This is the monster that I plan to use in taking you both down."

"I don't see how you plan to overcome my mighty Darkside."

"You forget that you have two opponents, Kuro, and I've only scratched the surface of my deck."

"That makes two of us!" Jaden chimed in.

 **-Turn 10-**

"I draw!"

 **Jaden: 5 Cards**

"Since both of you used three monsters to bring out your bosses, I activate my Polymerization to fuse my Sparkman on the field with my Avian and Bubbleman in my hand!"

With a sly smirk, Bastion activated his trap card.

"That's exactly what I have been waiting for! I activate Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell! By sending one spell card from my hand to the graveyard, I can negate the activation of a spell card and for the remainder of this duel, you cannot activate spell cards with that name."

 **Bastion: 0 Cards**

 **Jaden: 4 Cards**

Jaden's eyes went wide with shock as the whirling blue and orange vortex that would have combined his monsters was cracked and dispersed, leaving him with no way of fusion summoning for the remainder of the duel.

Crowler erupted into uncontrollable laughter as he instantly remembered why he had chosen Bastion over any other student. Kuro may have the raw power but even he could not eliminate Jaden's one way of winning the duel.

With a sigh, Jaden summoned his Elemental HERO Avian in defense position and switched his Sparkman's position.

 **Jaden: 3 Cards**

( **Elemental HERO Avian** / Normal Monster / Wind / Warrior / Level 3 / 1000 / **1000** )

"I end my turn."

 **-Turn 11-**

Kuro chuckled as he drew a card for his turn.

 **Kuro: 4 Cards**

"I'll use Darkside's effect to bring back a Shadow and then I'll use Shadow's effect to add my Possessor Heartless to my hand.

 **Kuro: 5 Cards**

"Next, I'll summon it in attack position…"

 **Kuro: 4 Cards**

A condensed ball of darkness appeared with a veil of black fog surrounding it. It looked harmless as it floated on Kuro's field with a terrified expression

( **Possessor Heartless** / Normal Monster / Dark / Fiend / Level 1 / **200** / 100)

"Only to tribute it for the special summon of my Thresholder Heartless!"

 **(Play: Dance to the Death)**

 **Kuro: 3 Cards**

A set of stone doors crashed down onto the Possessor from above, only to be possessed by the ghostly sphere. The two creatures on the doors came to life, slamming each of their single powerful fists with the other to intimidate Kuro's opponents.

( **Thresholder Heartless** / Effect Monster / Dark / Fiend / Level 5 / 1600 / **2500** )

"Next, I'll go into the Battle Phase and have my Darkside do battle with Jaden's Sparkman."

On the silver-haired boy's command, the giant heartless loomed over the superhero and crushed him with a mighty fist.

"During my End Phase, my Shadow Heartless inflicts damage to me and I'll tribute it to prevent my Darkside from doing the same."

 **Jaden: 1400  
Bastion: 2400  
Kuro: 2200**

 **-Turn 12-**

Bastion drew a card.

 **Bastion: 1 Card**

Without warning, the Thresholder stretched one of its fists to strike Bastion with an uppercut, sending him to the floor. As he tried to get up, Bastion could feel that the monster had knocked the air out of him with that punch. The Ra Yellow student got on his hands and knees and clutched his chest. He was left wide-eyed by this development and other students started to question what was going on.

 **Jaden: 1400  
Bastion: 1500  
Kuro: 2200**

"Hey! That's not fair!" Jaden shouts. "What gives?"

"I-I wasn't going crazy then," Rasa told himself.

From behind, Syrus asked, "What do you mean?"

"It felt like his Shadow monster actually scratched me when it inflicted damage to me. I couldn't tell if it was just my imagination because I kept negating his Darkballs' effects."

Kuro begins to laugh uncontrollably, filling the room with his unpleasant voice that made the other students uncomfortable.

Professor Banner leaned into the Chancellor's ear and said, "Should we stop the duel?" Even Crowler had turned around from where he was standing to see what he would say.

"No."

Both professors were taken aback but they trusted Chancellor's decision. It seemed like he had his reasons so neither one questioned him in the moment.

When Kuro's laughter died down, he explained, "Thresholder's effect inflicts 1000 damage to the turn player during the Standby Phase."

"So that means Jaden's going to take 1000 as soon as Bastion ends his turn," Chumley stated.

"Yeah, but so will Kuro when his turn comes back around."

Rasa scoffed, catching both of their attention.

"You really think Kuro would play that recklessly? He has something to spare himself of the damage. He's been in control of this duel the entire time."

Bastion continued with his turn, "I'll bring out my Mathematician!"

 **Bastion: 0 Cards**

( **Mathematician** / Effect Monster / Earth / Spellcaster / Level / **1500** / 500)

"It's effect allows me to send 1 card from my deck to the Graveyard and when it's destroyed, I can add one card from my deck to my hand.

"Mathematician, attack Jaden's Elemental HERO Avian!"

The old spellcaster raised his staff and launched a beam filled with math problems at Avian, destroying the green warrior.

"And Water Dragon, do battle with Kuro's Darkside Heartless!"

The blue serpent wrapped itself around the colossal Heartless, squeezing it tightly. Kuro's monster fought back by grabbing Bastion's with an iron grip. Both monsters tried to crush the other but in the end, they were both destroyed. Like the rest of Kuro's monsters, the Darkside dispersed into a clotted dark mist.

"Since you've destroyed my monster by battle, I can activate my trap card now that Rasa's Yuffie is not on the field anymore! Barrel Spider!"

From the magenta card, a wooden barrel with four red spider legs holding it up began crawling haphazardly around the field until it caught side of Bastion.

"Barrel Spider inflicts 200 damage to you times the level of my destroyed monster!"

Bastion went wide-eyed as the arachnid ran towards him. All he could do was throw his hands up as Kuro's creature rammed into him, exploding upon contact.

 **Jaden: 1400  
Bastion: 0  
Kuro: 2200**

Once again, Crowler announced the player's defeat before returning to his spot and watching the duel from afar.

 **-Turn 13-**

"Looks like it's just you and me, Kuro. Draw!"

 **Jaden: 4 Cards**

Just like with Bastion, the Thresholder flung one of its arms at Jaden, also knocking him down.

 **Jaden: 400  
Kuro: 2200**

"I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in defense position!"

 **Jaden: 3 Cards**

 **Elemental HERO Bubbleman** / Effect Monster / Water / Warrior / Level 4 / **800** / 1600)

"When I summon this monster, if there are no other cards on my side of the field, I can draw two cards."

 **Jaden: 5 Cards**

"And I activate my Equip Spell from my hand! Bubble Blaster! I equip it to Bubbleman to increase his attack points by 800…"

 **Jaden: 4 Cards**

"I set three cards…"

 **Jaden: 1 Cards**

"And I activate my Continuous Spell Mirage of Nightmare."

 **Jaden: 0 Cards**

"I end my turn." Before Kuro could start his next turn, Jaden told him, "If you think fusions are Elemental HEROs' only real advantage, you've got it all wrong. My HEROs will keep fighting until the battle is over."

Kuro laughed, "An inspiring speech, Jaden. But let me ask you something. Do heroes have fears?"

His eyes narrowed as he stared the brunet down while wearing a smug grin.

Jaden shook his head and said, "Heroes are brave! That's why I choose to play them."

 **-Turn 14-**

Kuro processed his response before replying, "Well many people are fearful of the dark. Want to know why?" Jaden just stood with his eyes locked onto Kuro, unwilling to say anything. The students and faculty in the audience simply watched on in suspense to see what he would say.

As he placed two fingers on the top card of his deck, he yelled, "Because you never know what lurks inside! Draw!"

 **Kuro: 4 Cards**

The Thresholder hopped several times to turn around in place before facing its owner with its blank savage eyes. It lifted both fists and dropped them down on Kuro.

 **Jaden: 400  
Kuro: 1200**

Rasa shot up from his seat in astonishment.

"He didn't have anything for it this time?!"

"You must've had more of a toll on his deck than we thought," said Chumley.

"Also during your Standby Phase, the effect of my Mirage of Nightmare allows me to draw until I have four cards in my hand."

 **Jaden: 4 Cards**

"And next I'll activate my Quick-Play Spell card, Emergency Provisions which will let me send any spell or trap cards from my field to the graveyard to gain 1000 life points for each one sent so I'll send my Mirage of Nightmare and one of my set cards."

 **Jaden: 2400  
Kuro: 1200**

"Impressive! You've prepared yourself for my upcoming assault on you and for your response next turn but you won't survive for much longer. Since I control at least five Heartless monsters in my graveyard, I can Special Summon Maleficent, Dark Fairy Queen of the Heartless!"

 **Kuro: 3 Cards**

Green flames sprouted in front of him and they roared and flickered for several moments before dying down to reveal a tall woman with pale green skin dressed in a pitch black gown. Her head was covered by a hood with horns and she carried a wooden scepter with an eerie green orb on top. She stood tall with her back straight in a very royal and proper manner and she held a very judgmental gaze.

( **Maleficent, Dark Fairy Queen of the Heartless** / Effect Monster / Dark / Spellcaster / Level 8 / **2700** / 2000)

"And when the queen arrives, her knight is short to follow. Once per turn, Maleficent allows me to special summon a level 4 or lower Heartless monster from my hand, so come forth Armored Knight Heartless!"

 **Kuro: 2 Cards**

( **Armored Knight Heartless** / Effect Monster / Dark / Fiend / Level 3 / **1000** / 1000)

"Maleficent, destroy his Elemental HERO!"

The dark witch swung her scepter and in the process, she shot a ball of green flames that exploded upon contact with Jaden's HERO.

"If Elemental HERO Bubbleman would be destroyed while equipped with Bubble Blaster, I can destroy the Equip Spell instead."

"You've avoided a direct attack from my Armored Knight but it can still cause you harm with its effect. During my second Main Phase, my Armored Knight's effect inflicts 1000 damage to you."

Kuro's monster leapt across the field, lance-first, and pierced Jaden's chest. The brunet flew backwards, almost falling off of the stage.

 **Jaden: 1400  
Kuro: 1200**

As Jaden crawled back up, Kuro set a card and ended his turn.

 **Kuro: 1 Card**

Kuro had provided Jaden's biggest challenge yet. Chazz was nowhere near as difficult in either of his duels with Jaden. Was it the high speed of Kuro's deck or his aggressive play style? Maybe his consistent strategy of inflicting damage that every one of his opponents felt in this duel? It was most likely all of these things but regardless, Jaden knew that if he wanted to face strong duelists, he had to keep winning. This is exactly what dueling meant to him.

Jaden really had to think about how he could win this one. Kuro's Thresholder would inflict damage on the silver-haired boy bringing him to 200 next turn but that gives him one whole turn to retaliate. Jaden would have to finish him now but his Bubbleman was weaker than Kuro's weakest monster. He needed a good card to draw.

 **-Turn 15-**

"Draw!"

 **Jaden: 5 Cards**

And a good draw, he got.

"I switch my Bubbleman into attack position and then I'll activate the spell card Bubble Shuffle!"

 **Jaden: 4 Cards**

"This card lets me switch Bubbleman and one of your monsters to defense position."

Kuro's Maleficent kneeled down and kept her scepter in front of her.

"And by tributing Bubbleman in defense position, I can summon one monster with 'Elemental HERO' in its name from my hand. I summon Elemental Hero Bladedge!"

 **Jaden: 3 Cards**

( **Elemental HERO Bladedge** / Effect Monster / Earth / Warrior / Level 7 / **2600** / 1800)

"Now I use this!" A compartment on the side of his duel disk opened so he could slip a spell card inside. "This Field Spell Skyscraper!"

All around them, tall towers rose to a cloudy night sky background. The lights from all of the buildings shined through the darkness in a sharp contrast of black and yellow.

"When a monster with 'Elemental HERO' in its name enters battle against a monster with higher attack points, its attack points are increased by 1000! Go Bladedge! Attack Maleficent!"

Wings sprouted from Bladedge's back and shot out golden flames from its jets. The golden warrior charged forward through the city streets and ripped right through the dark queen, leaving her black cloak in her place.

 **Jaden: 1400  
Kuro: 0**

 **DUEL ENDS**

The skyscrapers along with all of the monsters on the field faded, marking the end of the duel. Students from bleachers started to cheer, ignoring the superficial prejudices that many of them held towards Jaden because of his status. They all enjoyed the duel greatly and the performance from all of the duelists.

After all of the cheering and praise (and Crowler's whining), Chancellor Shepherd stood and announced Jaden Yuki as the winner and the school's representative. Syrus and Chumley were quick to be at Jaden's side.

"Great one, Jay!"

"Congratulations."

Kuro simply shrugged at his defeat, slipped his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the room. He was not one for celebrations, especially for his loss.

"I lost…" started Bastion as he approached Jaden. "I did not get a chance to test my deck against yours given the circumstances but regardless, I'll have to recalculate from the start. So that, someday, I can create an eighth deck that will surpass you."

"Sure, looking forward to it."

"That was a fun duel."

Bastion put a hand forward only for Jaden to give him a more relaxed handshake, which the black-haired boy did not mind.

Rasa watched this all unfold from the bleachers since he did not feel very festive at the moment. Sure, he could be happy for Jaden but it really bothered him that he was the first one to lose. While people congratulated Jaden and other students talked amongst themselves, Rasa looked around the room, noticing Kuro before he left. The silver-haired boy shot a smug look at him before walking out. Rasa could only grind his teeth in anger. It was not as though his actions could speak for him. Like Bastion, he too would have to work on his deck.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading until the end and I hope you enjoyed the four-way free-for-all duel between Jaden, Bastion, Rasa, and Kuro. I know I didn't really show off much of Rasa's deck in this duel either but I feel like I showed enough for you guys to understand where I'm going with it. His deck revolves around Key Keeper monsters for his Keyblade and –ga spell cards and so far, I've only revealed Sora as a Key Keeper monster just like how we didn't see many Keyblade Wielders until later on in the KH series. For sure, I'll show more of what his deck can do next time so I'll see you then. Thanks for reading! (Again).**


End file.
